Of course not.

“Cheers!” Ruruka said on the other side of town as she and her friends raised their glasses over their usual table for the second time that day, after it had been given a thorough cleaning. “To another successful night of work!”

“You know I can always drink to that!” Masako said before taking a long drink from her glass. “I’m surprised that you went out with us though, Ruruka. I expected you to retire after getting yourself a sugar daddy like Shuichi Saihara.”

“Yeah, me too,” Akari agreed. “Say, where is he, by the way? I certainly wouldn’t have minded if he came with you again.”

“Sorry, girls, but you know I can’t rely on him all the time,” Ruruka replied with a shrug, hiding the venom in her voice. “Besides, if there’s one downside to having a rich boyfriend, it’s that he’s always so busy with stuff like business deals, traveling, and stuff like that. I’d honestly be surprised if he ever found the time to come back down here.”

“Aww, really? That’s a shame…” Lily said sadly. “I’m going to miss him…”

“Oh, I’m sure you’ll see him walking the red-light district every now and then, but do your best not to mention me if you ever see him, okay? He hates talking about me behind my back,” Ruruka replied.

“Wow! Such a nice boyfriend!” Yuuko said, impressed. “I wish my ex was more like that!”

“Right, of course,” Ruruka replied, laughing bitterly with her friends. “Hey, waitress! Could I get a refill on my drink over here?”

“...” Shuichi sat quietly on a bench by the entrance of Kokai park, staring at the small parking lot outside while Maki and Mukuro stood behind him. Their workout had officially ended fifteen minutes ago, but Shuichi insisted that they wait a little while longer in case Ruruka got there late.

“I don’t think she’s coming, Shuichi,” Maki spoke up.

“N-no! I’m sure she’ll be here any second!” Shuichi insisted, his voice a little shaky. “We just need to be patient.”

“Well, I’m afraid I’m not interested in doing a stakeout all night,” Mukuro replied. “Maki, would you like to start our sparring session now?”

“Yes, I suppose now would be a good time,” said Maki. “Would you like to watch us, Shuichi? You might learn some self-defense techniques if you do.”

“Thanks, but I think I should keep my eye on the entrance,” Shuichi replied. “I don’t want to miss Ruruka when she gets here, after all.”

“If you say so.” Maki placed a lingering hand on Shuichi’s shoulder before following Mukuro off to a more empty area of the park.

“Alright, let’s get started then.” Mukuro cracked her knuckles and spread her legs in a defensive stance. “Rember, keep your center of gravity low and you’ll be less likely to be flipped and thrown.”

“Right, of course.” Maki took out her hidden weapons and tossed them to the side. “... This ‘Ruruka’ woman… she probably took advantage of Shuichi, didn’t she?”

“That is a definite possibility,” Mukuro admitted, her stance softening a little. “It certainly isn’t unheard of for women in the red-light district to act interested in men to get them to buy things. Even my sister, Pandora, is guilty of that time-to-time. And Shuichi is a very emotionally delicate person, though that is part of what makes him charming.”

“Should we tell him then?” Maki asked. “I mean, I know it’s probably the right thing to do, but… I don’t want to hurt him either.”

“Then don’t tell him,” Mukuro bluntly replied. “He’s not an idiot, after all; he’ll figure out what really happened between him and Ruruka eventually. It may be best if he’s left to process it on his own.”

“Are you sure about that?” Maki glanced Mukuro directly in the eye.

“I am certain,” Mukuro replied without a doubt. “I’ve seen him stand up to my sister before, after all. He’s much more resilient than he appears.”

“If you say so…” Maki looked down to the ground and, after a long pause, launched herself at Mukuro to try and tackle the ex-soldier off her feet. Mukuro saw this coming, however, and simply sidestepped out of the way. “Dammit!” Maki swore as she rolled across the park grass.

“You’re getting better, but you still assume that your opponent will just stand there and let themselves be tackled. If I was inexperienced, it would’ve been effective. But you can’t always count on that being the case.”

“Right, of course. I forgot that I was dealing with a girl who’s as quick as she is cute,” Maki replied, looking up at Mukuro upside-down as she lay on her back.

Mukuro blushed at the unexpected compliment, and Maki used that as her chance to try and sweep Mukuro with her legs as she sprung up off the ground. The hit collided, but the ex-soldier proved to be too heavy to knock over so easily.

“Ah!” Mukuro grunted in pain and jumped backward. “Using flirting as a battle tactic? Hmph. You really are an assassin.”

“It isn’t one of my favorite techniques, but it does the job,” Maki said as she rubbed the shoulder she landed on. “Now, let’s really get started, shall we?”

“Yes… let’s,” Mukuro said before the two rushed at each other once again.

In the end, Maki wasn’t able to break Mukuro’s undefeated streak, but she did at least walk away pridefully in the fact that she came closer than she ever had before - though, that did little to soothe her muscles.

When they went back to check on Shuichi, however, they found him in the same spot that they left him, staring at the front entrance of the park.

“Any sign of her yet?” Mukuro asked as she and Maki walked up behind Shuichi with their things.

“No… and I’ve tried calling her, and she’s not answering,” Shuichi answered. “But… she’s probably still on her way, right? She probably just… forgot to charge her phone.”

“Shuichi… it’s getting late. You should head home and get some rest.” Maki placed a hand on his shoulder again. “I can see bags under your eyes… you didn’t get enough sleep last night even with sleeping in, did you?”

“I’m fine, Maki, really.” Shuichi brushed Maki’s hand off his shoulder. “And she’s going to be here soon, I know it; she really cares about me, after all.”

“...” Maki bit her tongue as she was reminded of the time when she passed by a dog waiting for its owner to come to take it inside its house, not knowing that she had just killed the man. “Well, if for some reason she can’t make it… I’ll keep my cell phone on if you need to talk, okay? You can even crash at my place for the night if you need to.”

“Thanks, Maki… that means a lot to me.” Shuichi pulled Maki in for a warm hug and kissed her on the cheek. “Oh… we’re still on to watch that movie tomorrow, right?”

“Yeah; tomorrow at six would work best for me,” Maki smiled.

“Movie?” Mukuro cocked her head curiously to the side. “Which one are you going to see?”

“We haven’t decided yet actually. We’re going because…” Maki blushed and looked away. “... Shuichi was going to teach me more about humor.”

“Really? That… actually sounds like it would be very educational.” Mukuro placed a hand to her chin as she thought for a moment. “Would it be okay if I came as well? Even Pandora’s constant jokes, I don’t think I have a very good sense of humor yet.”

“Sure, I don’t see why not,” Maki affirmed before pausing again. “... and maybe Ruruka can come too, if she has the time.”

“Yeah, definitely! I bet it will be a lot of fun!” Shuichi said with a smile. “So, I guess this is goodnight for now then?”

“Yeah… goodnight, Shuichi.” Maki sat down onto Shuichi’s lap and kissed him gently on the lips. Shuichi quickly kissed back, sucking reverently on her lips and tongue as his hands squeezed her sides lovingly. This continued for a few minutes, with Maki moaning into his mouth before she finally stood up and let Mukuro take her place, who kissed Shuichi just as passionately. Her powerful hips rocked against Shuichi’s as she felt his tongue move in ways they never had before inside her mouth, making her feel far more aroused than she expected it to.

“My… you’ve gotten quite better at that,” Mukuro said as she wiped a thin strand of spit from her lip. “Have you been… practicing?”

“Er… maybe a little bit with Ruruka,” Shuichi bashfully replied.

“Tch.” Maki let out a small jealous scoff. “Well… you can practice with us too if you want, you know.”

“R-right, of course,” Shuichi replied. “Maybe we can do that tomorrow?”

“Well, it certainly would make our little date more interesting.” Mukuro gave one last affectionate hug to Shuichi before she picked her bag of sports equipment and weapons back up and put it over her shoulder. “Goodnight, Shuichi; I’ll text you both in the morning.”

“Goodnight, you girls! I’ll let you know as soon as Ruruka gets here!” Shuichi called out after Maki and Mukuro as they both left the park. “As soon… as she gets here…”